AACL BIOFLUX Aquaculture, Aquarium, Conservation & Legislation International Journal of the Bioflux Society

Inventory of ecologically-important fish in Bugang River, Philippines Armi May T. Guzman, Thereze Pauline V. Capaque

Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanology, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. Corresponding author: A. M. T. Guzman, [email protected]

Abstract. Bugang River is recognized as one of the cleanest river in the Philippines and a popular tourist destination in Panay Island for its Malumpati Health Spring and Tourist Resort, however Bugang River’s biota is not well known. This study aimed to provide baseline information on fishes present in Bugang River. A survey was conducted for four months (November 2013 to March 2014) using a variety of gears including gill net, filter net, scoop net, hook and line, and local contrivances made of bamboo such as modified fish weir and traps. Four sites, representing upstream, upper midstream, lower midstream and downstream served as the sampling areas. The study revealed the occurrence of thirty-eight (38) species in the river belonging to thirty (30) genera and twenty (20) families. Eleotridae is the most dominant family, with six species, followed by Gobiidae (four species). The fishes were also ecologically classified based on their origin and tolerance to saltwarer, indicating that majority of the fishes were sporadic visitors. Migratory fishes were also seen representing a minor proportion of the population. Key Words: Bugang River, Malumpati Health Spring and Tourist Resort, biodiversity, freshwater fishes, migratory, sporadic visitors.

Introduction. Fish populations have engendered a wide array of ecological benefits among human societies. Fish are conspicuous for their function in food chain, nutrient cycling and regulation of biological processes, among others. Owing to their daily, seasonal and annual migration patterns across spatial borders, fish effeciently serve as active and passive carriers and dispensers of nutrients, energy and genetic reserves. Functional significance of fish also includes genetic library, which may evenly be useful in the domains of medicine and of aquaculture (Hammer & Holmlund 1999). Freshwater constitutes only 1% of the entire expanse of the earth (Helfrich et al 2009). Tiny fraction though, freshwater is a home for at least 100,000 species out of the 1.8 million identified ones (Dudgeon et al 2006). There are 28,900 species of fish that have been identified (Butler 2006), greater proportion of it is found in marine waters, accounting for some 58%. Conversely, the remaining 41% have been found to occur in freshwater bodies and 1% is identified as diadromous (Helfrich et al 2009). In terms of biological diversity, freshwater habitats are classified as one of the richest (Ward & Tockner 2001). Freshwater fish species can be categorized into two groups on the basis of the postulated habitats of their ancestors. Comprised of around 8,000 species, the first group termed as the primary freshwater species, is deemed to have first emerged in fresh water bodies. Conversely, the second group with 1,500 species is assumed to have originated from marine species and is coined as secondary freshwater species (Allen 1982). Rivers in the tropics, particularly in Asian countries support a rich but barely known biota (Allen 1991). While they serve significant functions in human populations, tropical Asian rivers remained poorly understood and studied (Kottelat & Whitten 1996). In the Philippines, recent studies have been done by some institutions to prime the biodiversity analysis of some riverine systems. A diverse assortment of freshwater fish fauna was shown to occur in some riverine systems that have been surveyed in the Philippines. The Makiling Forest Reserve alone is

AACL Bioflux, 2014, Volume 7, Issue 5. 396 http://www.bioflux.com.ro/aacl a home for sixteen species of freshwa